Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Carotenoids from Carrot Pomace and Their Optimization through Response Surface Methodology

Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was used to extract carotenoids from the carrot pomace. To investigate the effect of independent variables on the UAE, the response surface methodology (RSM) with central-composite design (CCD) was employed. The study was conducted with three independent variables including extraction time (min), temperature (& DEG;C), and ethanol concentration (%). The results showed that the optimal conditions for UAE were achieved with an extraction time of 17 min, temperature of 32 & DEG;C, and ethanol concentration of 51% of total carotenoids (31.82 & PLUSMN; 0.55); extraction time of 16 min, temperature of 29 & DEG;C, and ethanol concentration of 59% for a combination of beta-carotene (14.89 & PLUSMN; 0.40), lutein (5.77 & PLUSMN; 0.19), and lycopene (2.65 & PLUSMN; 0.12). The non-significant (p > 0.05) correlation under optimal extraction conditions between predicted and experimental values suggested that UAE is the more productive process than conventional techniques for the extraction of carotenoids from the carrot pomace.